U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Karl Kirwan
Karl Kirwan, age 44, passed away Thursday, March 6, 2008, in Dublin, Ireland.
Survivors include: wife, Renea of Calverton, N.Y.; parents, Mike and Jean Kirwan of Imperial; sister, Karen Weiner and husband, Richard of Charlotte, N.C.; brother, Kris Kirwan and wife, Ana of Charlotte, N.C.; three nieces and two nephews.
Funeral services are scheduled for Wed., March 19, at 11 a.m. at Imperial First United Methodist Church.
Liewer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Margaret Heskett
Margaret Grace Schilz was born Aug. 24, 1923 on a farm northwest of McCook, Neb. to Jacob and Nellie (Spurgeon) Schilz.
As a young girl she attended a nearby county school and helped with household chores.
Margaret married
Al Heskett on Aug. 29, 1944, at Immaculate Conception Church in Westerly, R.I., where Al was stationed in the Navy. They returned to the McCook area and lived on Al's family farm northwest of McCook.
In 1968, the family moved to Imperial where Margaret worked at the Imperial Republican and later as Activities Director at the Imperial Manor.
Margaret was an active member of St. Patrick's Church, Imperial and a member of the Altar Society. She enjoyed her family, friends, garden and loved to fish.
Margaret passed away Sunday morning, March 2, 2008, at Franklin County Hospital, Franklin, Neb., at the age of 84.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; infant daughter, Janice; son, Kirk; brothers, Leo, Bernard and Gene and sister, Florence.
Survivors include daughters, Marilyn Iverson of Imperial, Vivian Brown and husband, Jerry, of Lexington, Neb., Nancy Terryberry and husband, Tom, of Imperial, Lois Silvester and husband, Kim, of Champion, Carla Colton and husband, Charley, of Imperial and sons, Douglas Heskett and wife, Julie, of Omaha, Neb., Ernest Heskett and wife, Vicky, of Imperial, Craig Heskett and wife, Debora, of York, Neb.; 34 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren; sister, Marie Hampton of California and brothers, William Schilz of McCook and Rich Schilz of Arvada, Colo.
Rosary was recited on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Funeral Mass will be celebrated today, Thursday morning, March 6 at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
Interment will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery.
Music provided by Kim Silvester, soloist, Jeanette Munger, Cantor and Marcy Nesbitt, organist.
Casketbearers are Mark Heskett, Terry Nelson, Rick Nelson, Randy Hill, Charlie Mack and Steve Leibbrandt.
A memorial has been established in Margaret's memory.
Liewer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Elsie Kessler
Elsie Rosa Kessler was born May 27, 1918, at Hiawatha, Dundy County, Neb. to Joseph Guy and Ella O'Tillie (Talmon) Hendrix.
Elsie attended school at District #12, at Hiawatha. She met her future husband to be, Michael Andrew Kessler, when he came to Dundy County from Kansas in the 1930's to work for several area farmers, one of which was her father.
Elsie and Mike were married
on Oct. 11, 1937, at Imperial, Neb. After their marriage they bought and moved onto a farm in the Hiawatha community. Elsie continued to live on the farm after Mike's death in 1996 until her health started to fail in the 2000's. At that time she made the Heritage of Wauneta Care Center her home until the time of her death.
Elsie passed away Thursday evening, Feb. 28, 2008, at the Chase County Community Hospital. She was 89 years of age.
Elsie was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Mike, in 1996.
Survivors include daughter, Cheryl Hamilton and husband, Richard, of Wauneta.
Private family inurnment services were held at Mount Hope cemetery with Pastor Greg Stuckwisch officiating.
A memorial has been established in her memory
Liewer Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Merle Bock
Merle Genevieve Newman Bock was born Feb. 10, 1923, at Chase, Neb., to Harry and Edyth (Tallman) Newman.
Merle attended grade school at Chase Rural District 66. She graduated from Chase County High School in 1940 and went on to attend the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.
Merle moved to California in 1944 and became a Physical Therapist.
She married
Dr. John Bock in June of 1950 and the couple had an office in Inglewood, Calif. for 28 years.
After retirement, Merle and John moved to Escondido, Calif, where they spent nine summers working for the US Forrest Service.
After 46 years of marriage, John passed away in 1996 and Merle moved to Imperial in 2001 to be near family.
Merle passed away Saturday evening, March 1, 2008, at the Imperial Manor Nursing Home, Imperial, Neb. She was 85 years of age.
Merle was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. John Bock; parents, Harry and Edyth Newman; her sister, Maye and husband, Arthur (Boots) Creveling and great-nephew, Dick Creveling.
Survivors include nephew, Art Creveling and wife, Liz, of Imperial; great-niece, Cindy Norman and husband, Don, of Imperial; great-great-nephews, Donivan Norman and Adam Creveling Johnson; two step-daughters, Pat Crandall and husband, Jim, Melinda Kilmer and husband, Don; seven step-grandchildren, all of California.
Graveside inurnment services for Merle Bock was held Tuesday afternoon, March 4, 2008, 1 p.m. at Mount Hope cemetery with Pastor Kay Alnor officiating.
A memorial has been established in Merle's memory.
Liewer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
William 'Bill' Horst
William "Bill" Horst, 71, a resident of Arnold for the last five years, passed away on March 2, 2008, in his home surrounded by loving family after a long battle with cancer. He loved the Lord and used his illness as a way to tell others.
William was born August 11, 1936, in Scottsbluff, Neb., one of five children and the third son of Peter and Lydia (Reh) Horst. Both sets of his grandparents were German immigrants who fled the Volga River area in Russia.
In 1954 he graduated from Scottsbluff High School and continued on to the Junior College there. He furthered his education at Chadron State College, receiving his Master's degrees in Guidance and Administration.
His first teaching position was on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, then he continued to teach and coach football, basketball, track and wrestling for 42 years in schools around west and central Nebraska. Bill was an outstanding athlete and fierce competitor, with football being his first love. He coached football teams from Ansley, Westholt and Mullen to Championship years.
After retiring from education at Wauneta, Neb., he spent time enjoying his favorite hobby of restoring and collecting fishing rods and reels. He amassed a large collection and became quite knowledgeable in the history of the various makes and models.
Preceding him in death are his parents, brother Gerald Horst and a stepson, Mitchell Marsh.
He is survived by his wife, Diane; four daughters, Debra Boyles (Donny) of Gillette, Wyo., Julia Ann Jones of Casper, Wyo., Risa Horst Langman (David) of Eagle River, Alaska and Heidi Connell (Randy) of Arnold; stepdaughter, Vangie Marsh of Austin, Texas and stepson, Myron Marsh of Omaha, Neb.; ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; brother, Peter Horst Jr. of Oregon and sisters, Janette Cawley (Ray) of Virginia and Sharlene Powell of Denver, Colo; four nieces and six nephews.
Services will be Thursday, March 6, 2008, at the First Baptist Church in Arnold, Neb., at 10:30 a.m. with the Reverends Irvin Jennings and Ben Eichoff officiating. Burial will be in the Arnold Cemetery. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Wednesday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A memorial has been established in his name.
Arnold Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Kenneth Werner
Kenneth "Pete" Lee Werner was born Sept. 16, 1953, in Colorado Springs, Colo., to Art "Shorty" Werner and Rose (Oeseau) Werner.
He had an eighth grade formal education with a lifetime of self education in auto body work and truck driving.
He married
Gwen (Robbins) Werner on July 1, 1986, in Palestine, Texas. They lived in Palestine until 1993, when they moved to Benkelman, Neb. and finally settled in Imperial.
Pete passed away early Friday morning, Feb. 29, 2008, at the Chase County Community Hospital, Imperial. He was 54 years of age.
Pete's hobbies were fixing up cars, building model cars, camping and fishing. His greatest joy was his wife, children and playing with his grandchildren.
Pete was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Patty Miller.
Survivors include: wife, Gwen of Imperial; daughters, Elizabeth McCrumb and husband, James, of Imperial, Valarie Werner of Wauneta; sons, Tracy Hamby and wife, Christine, of Keene Texas and Christopher Werner of Woodland, Calif.; six grandchildren, Joshua, Cole, Noah, Sarah, Gabriel and Ashton; sister, Barbara Claus and husband, Joe, of Palisade; brothers, David Werner of Palisade and Arthur Werner and wife, Tammy, of Palisade and uncle, John Oeseau and wife, Mary, of Alma, Wisc.
Funeral services for Pete Werner were held Monday morning, March 3, 2008, 10 a.m. (MT) at the Berean Fundamental Church of Imperial with Pastor John Engbrecht and Rev. Matt Dupeire officiating.
Interment followed at the Palisade Cemetery, Palisade.
Casketbearers were Brian Hagen, James Robbins, James McCrumb, Luke Snyder, AC Werner and Jared Brewer.
A memorial has been established in Pete's memory.
Liewer Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Margaret 'Margie' Cranwell
Margaret "Margie" Jane (Covert) Cranwell was born on Jan. 12, 1920 to William Franklin and Bertha May (McGaughy) Covert. She died Feb. 22, 2008.
She was born in an old cement house on the Nebraska/Colorado line, the road curved around the house as the house was built right on the state line.
Margie rode her horse, Roudy, to school at Pleasant Valley southeast of Holyoke, Colo. through the eighth grade. She and her brother, Roy made the school ride everyday together.
On Sept. 19, 1938 Margie married
Kenneth Sidney Cranwell in Holyoke, Colo. To this union three children Gary, Gene and Beverly were born.
Margie cleaned house for several families and was employed by the Holyoke School District for many years where she made many friends. She was a member of the Pleasant Valley Church while living in Pleasant Valley and later she was a member of the EUB Church in Lamar, Neb. until moving to Holyoke in 1969, at that time, she joined the Holyoke United Methodist Church.
Margie was preceded in death by her parents, William and Bertha Covert; her son, Gene; granddaughter-in-law, Melinda and great grandson, Westyn; two sisters, Bernice and Minnie; six brothers, infant Floyd, Lloyd, Orville, Wayne, George "Bud" and stillborn Charles; two nephews and one niece.
Margie will be greatly missed by her son, Gary, and Vonnie of Broken Bow, Neb.; daughter, Bev, and Lee Struckmeyer and daughter-in-law, Julie Cranewell-Koch, and husband, Duane of Wray/Otis, Colo.; brother, Roy Covert of Platteville, Colo. and sister-in-law, Rae Belle Sicka of Holyoke, Colo.; 11 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
Funeral services were held Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Holyoke, Colo. with Pastor Darrell Dennis officiating.
Interment followed at the Holyoke Memorial Park.
Baucke Funeral Home of Holyoke was in charge of arrangements.
